Sunday, December 30, 2012

A new era, Day One

Well, here we are, 10 days postpartum Again, I've been meaning to update about Logan's birth and our time in the hospital, but it has been hectic and to say that I'm still very hormonal is a bit of an understatement.
When we last left off, I was still scheduled for a C-Section on the morning of December 21st. I had an appointment set for the day before and was told to bring my bag with me. My OB's logic was that if I had my bag with me, there was no way we'd have a baby. Kind of like when you bring an umbrella with you just to ensure that it doesn't rain.
But that was not the case, even medicated, my blood pressure was still high. Also, for the first time, I had more than a trace of protein when my urine was dip-sticked. A second dipstick did not reveal any protein, so part of me thinks I may have just been dehydrated. But the decision was made to send me up to Labor and Delivery. At that point, I just thought more labs were going to be drawn, but when I got up there, the nurse basically told me that I was going to be having the baby that evening at 5 PM, once my breakfast had cleared.
Upon learning that I was having the baby that day, I tried to call Adam, who had gone to work. Adam was also at work when I was told it was time for James to come, so it was familiar territory. The nurses at the Perinatal Center were shocked that he hadn't come to my appointment, but we had already decided that Adam would go to work that day. Of course, I couldn't get a hold of my darling husband right away, which made me a little bit upset. Finally I called my mom to tell her what was going on and in that instant, Adam started to call me. Isn't that always the way it works?
Eventually, plans were made for James and Adam was at the hospital. Around 4:30, when I expected to be getting my spinal/epidural, I learned that a woman came in, fully dilated, with her baby breech. That meant that I was getting pushed back. My mom and Jackie had just arrived and we were now set to wait a few hours. And wait we did.
Finally, around 7 PM I was taken back into the OR. The anesthesiologist had already talked to me about the spinal/epidural I'd be getting and I knew what to expect from having the same procedure with James. A spinal was put into my back to numb me for surgery and the epidural was put in for pain management afterwards. I was very nervous about getting the spinal done, but the lidocaine did its job and after a little crunch of my spinal bones, I felt numb very quickly. The doctor did a great job, because I was fully numb up to my rib cage. As expected, I as quite claustrophobic once the medicine kicked in. The feeling of the bright lights and not being able to move can be quite scary and after a few minutes, I just had to close my eyes and go to a happy place! I calmed down easily and then waited. I heard them call for the beginning of surgery and a minute later, Adam was in with me.
Surgery was as I had expected, I felt pressure and heard the doctor's talking. The anesthesiologist had warned Adam not to talk to me about the surgery during the actual procedure, so of course that was what he asked about right away. It didn't freak me out, but I guess some people get woozy if they think about what's going on. After a few minutes of chatting about the pulling and pushing I was feeling, we started talking about Chicago Fire (a show I watch) because the doctor scolded us!
Eventually, they pulled the baby out and he screamed right away.
Logan Maverick was born at 7:31 PM. He screamed and screamed and screamed. I have never been happier to hear a baby cry, because James screamed for a second and then stopped. His lungs couldn't handle screaming and he was immediately whisked away to the NICU. Luckily. the new little guy kept on screaming. He was cleaned and weighed and Adam took lots of pictures. The pediatrician brought him over to me and we greeted each other.
A second son. A second little boy for me to love, guide, and raise. As overwhelmed has I had been the weeks prior, looking at my little guy made me feel calm and in control, even while lying on an operating table, getting sew back together. Adam got to sit and hold Logan once he had been swaddled and was nice and warm.
We all went back to the recovery room together and Adam went to tell my mom and Jackie that it would be a few minutes before they could come see us. Logan and I were checked over and looked after for awhile. We attempted to breast feed, but when the baby's blood sugar came back very low at 32, he had to have a bottle. Type one diabetics pass insulin onto their babies, so as soon as they are born, they tend to have low blood sugar. While I didn't want to give up on breastfeeding immediately, I knew he needed to eat and he sucked down two ounces of formula like a champ.
When the other patient was moved out of the recovery room, Jackie and my mom got to come see the baby for awhile. Eventually they left and Logan went to the nursery for a check up. I went back to my room and it was decided my blood pressure was just not coming down enough. Around 2 AM that morning, it was decided that I was not going to be put on an IV of Magnesium Sulfate. Magnesium lowers your blood pressure and prevents seizures that can occur with pre-eclampsia and hypertension. It also makes you feel like you've been hit by a truck, occasionally nauseous, and very sleepy and out of it. Luckily, I was only put on 12 hours of this awful drug.
And that was Day One of little Logan's life.
More to come...